agoraphobia or claustrophobia?

[jayye]

Hi, Ive suffered with this phobia for about 8 years now and Ive decided to see my gp about it, my appt is next week. Any tips on what to say/ask would be great.

My fears are - being somewhere that I cannot get out/escape from instantly so I cant go on trains, planes, lifts. When Im at my worst I cannot do buses, shopping centres or anywhere where I cant see the door and the door is not open. Automatic doors are a problem too in case they dont open when I try to get out. I dont feel the need to be home, just out of that enclosed place. I have what I guess are panic attacks when ever Im stuck in these places, although I do know that its panic Im feeling, I dont think Im having a heart attack or whatever as thats what I read about most commonly on panic attacks.

Recently Ive had my phobia strike whilst in a meeting when I suddenly realised that the outside door was locked, and also in a friends house when she locked the front door and I realised we were locked inside the porch until she got her keys out to unlock it. I often wake in the night full of fear and panic thinking im trapped in somewhere then I come round a bit and tell myself the window is unlocked then I can get back to sleep. I cannot lock doors in public toilets/cubicles if there is not sufficient space under the door for me to escape through. I couldnt recently go into an x ray room at the hospital with my daughter because they would lock the door. I also panic when Im at the hairdressers having highlights as I know I must stay in that chair for so long and cannot just get up & get out. Also the dentists, Im not scared of dental treatment its the thought of being trapped in that chair while the dentist is looking in my mouth & I cannot escape instantly.

The list of things I cannot do is ever growing and Ive had enough, I dont believe I'll ever do certain things again but I need to get some control back as its affecting my family aswell, my children would love to go out on a train for a daytrip for eg.

So what would you diagnose me with?
Thanks

[Alabasterlyn]

There is quite an overlap in most anxiety disorders and I think quite often we are labelled with having one particular type of anxiety disorder when in fact we might have a bit of other things going on too.

A lot of the things that you describe sound like agoraphobia to me. The feelings of being trapped etc are very typical fears of someone with agoraphobia and quite often people wrongly think that agoraphobia is a fear of being outside, when in fact it's just a fear of being out of your safe zone or anywhere where you cannot escape easily. However you say you are fine going out, so maybe you are a functioning agoraphobic.

There isn't one situation that you have written about here that doesn't put me in a right state too and my main diagnosis is agoraphobia.

[jayye]

Thanks for the reply.

I had another bad situation at the weekend, I went to a wedding in a registry office. Once in the room where the couple were due to be married, I realised the doors were going to be closed once everyone was in. As the doors were at the opposite end of the room to where I was sitting, and to get to them I would have had to walk past the bride & groom in view of the whole crowd, I realised I had to get out while I still could & before the service started. I felt such a fool, and so embarrassed. I had a really miserable day that day wondering how many more situations and events I will have to avoid now to prevent this happening again.

Oh well, its the docs appt tomorrow so I will see what happens, but I dont expect anything is going to get better any time soon.

[JaneC]

Best of luck at the doc jayye. That need to escape thing is a huge one for me when I'm not well, luckily the anti-depressants I am currently taking are controlling it pretty well. I honestly don't know whether it's agoraphobia or claustrophobia - both can be associated with that trapped feeling. I don't think it matters really, anxiety is no doubt the root of both. Just concentrate on getting well - hopefully you will soon get some help in that direction x

[jessicalittler79]

hi hun iam the same way reading your post sounds just like me..ive been like this for 15 years long time umm...sorry u feel thing way hun hope u better soon

[jayye]

Well Im back from the docs, she has referred me to see someone about getting cbt, I should hear something back in about 2 weeks.

I asked her if there was something I could take for specific events, like in a couple of weeks time my daughter will be in a show at the theatre and Im not sure how I will cope with that, and she gave me a prescription for a low dose of diazepam. I havent bothered to collect them as I had these once before, years ago when I was starting to be nervous of flying and they didnt help at all. Once, when I first started with panic, I was given propanolol or something, I never actually took a single tablet but just having them with me helped a little. Its a shame she didnt give me those.

Anyway I think I feel slightly better today.
Hope everyone else is too

[Alabasterlyn]

It's great that your GP is referring you for CBT as a lot of people find that really helps them.

Diazepam doesn't always help everyone. Maybe you should go back to your GP and say you've had them in the past and they didn't work? I'm sure they would be willing to give you some more Propanolol, even if you just keep them on you for reassurance

[panicdiva]

I have often asked myself the exact same question. What you described is what I am like too. The lifts, trains, planes, toilets, rooms ect. I don't llike motorways in case we get into a traffic jam and there is no escape. I have come to the conclusion that it is a bit of both. The main thing is, I believe that, the basic fear is that I will have a panic attack if in one of these situations, that I will loose control of myself and go crazy and loose my mind. When we are away from home, I often feel anxiety which makes me think that I am agoraphobic, but the basic fear is still that because I cannot get home immediatley that I will panic and loose control of myself. So for me, even though I probably have a bit of both, the way forward from all of this is the same whether it be claustraphobia or agoraphobia.

I believe that CBT tackles both situations the same way.

[Going home]

I agree with Alabasterlyn in that both of these phobias can overlap. I am claustrophobic because i don't like to be in things like lifts or even in public toilets where there is no gap at the top or bottom of the door (if the door gets stuck and im trapped then I think I won't be able to breathe if there's no gap) to name but a few, but I also hate being out in the countryside...even though I prefer it to towns...or anywhere where there are no people around and help is quite far away. So a bit of both phobias..

Anna xxx